Right now the Bruins have all of three guys on the books for 2014-15 and one of them is Marc Savard (McQuaid and Chara are the others). You can probably add Krejci to that list. Marchand and Seguin are likely to be around thanks to as-yet-unsigned second or, in Marchand's case, third contracts. Bergeron and Seidenberg will be UFAs that year. Everything else is up in the air.

So - to avoid this turning into a shopping spree where everyone constructs a fantasy team (yawn), I'll try to ask a very specific question:

Which players on the current roster, or among the current prospects, do you see playing in Boston in 2014-15?

Assume the Cap growth slows with the new CBA, so the Cap is $66M. Also assume no cap shenanigan retirement deals exist - they'll be gone in this round of negotiations ("After the age of 35, a player's actual salary cannot be less than the average salary calculated for salary cap purposes").

Feel free to construct lines to support the argument, but try to resist the temptation to say 'and on Seguin's left wing, Ovechkin will score 90!'

Thomas refuses to take a pay cut to stay so Chiarelli is forced to make a very, very tough decision because he had to pay Horton, Siedenberg and Bergeron. Spooner, Sauve, MacDermind, Campbell and Paille are in ready or not because they are cheaper.

Boychuk, Kampfer, Bartkowski, Cohen or Alexandrov are either the 7th Dman or got traded at the deadline in 2012 or 2013.

This is the year (at the latest) when the tough choices we keep debating would have to be made. Bergeron will be UFA. Krejci will be either half-way through the contract he signs in the next year or he'll be UFA. Seguin will be in his fifth year - no longer a prospect and two years from UFA himself (if the CBA remains similar). Money might get awfully tight if they're all playing to potential.

Also implicity here is the fate of the oft-discussed prospects. Spooner and Knight will be through their EL deals (one year jr. doesn't count, so three years...), and the whack of prospects will have either s--t or gotten kicked off the pot. All those college defensemen forced to fall back on their educations....

Fascinating ideas, asmaha. But I think they are committed to keeping McQuaid, giving him a 3 yr. And Peverly just keeps getting better. They may drop Campbell but I hope not. He brings a lot. And I agree that Sieds will still be here-- he is a rock. No cup 2011 without him.

Lucic in the playoffs seemed to be losing whatever touch he had. He was missing checks, passes, shots, everything. Skating constipated. If he continues like that, I suspect he will be gone by trade deadline 2012.

Given Chiarelli's track record of building up the middle, perhaps Krejci, Bergeron and Seguin remain. I see either Kelly or Campbell centering the 4th, but both won't be here. In net, Rask will be gone b/c they'll stick with Thomas until he completely breaks down. On wing, my bet is Horton and Marchand stay, Lucic, Pouliot and Peverly go. Thornton retires. A couple guys make it to the bigs. On D, Chara, Corvo and Seidenberg remain. Boychuck, Ference and McQuaid all gone. Kampfer survives trade talk. Here goes...keep in mind new faces won't be exact, but you get the drift on type of player, talent level, age at that time and general salary demands. Vanek-Krejci-Horton Marchand-Bergeron-Spooner Torres-Seguin-Khokhlachev Eager-Kelly-Paille Chara-Clitsome Seidenberg-Hamilton Corvo-Kampfer Khudobin-ThomasPosted by asmaha

Torres? That wouldn't be Raffe I hope. Hopefully he disappears in the Arizona desert before he ends somebody's career and is never heard from again!

When in doubt... That's four years in the future... At center = Bergeron, Seguin, Kreji.. [at their peak]; Wings= Horton, Marchand,McKnight, Sauve, Spooner, Peverly,Lucic, ; Defense= Chara[ near the end], MCQuaid. [at peak], Hamilton [ stepping up], Button [ solid and fast]... Goalie= Rask, { Timmy will be gone this year or next], Khudobin [ he might bolt after one year as backup]